In this paper, we present updated information and results of the radiocarbon records based on Polynesian corals and on Iberian Margin planktonic foraminifera. The latter record was first published by Bard et al. (2004a,b), with the subsequent addition of some data by Shackleton et al. (2004). These data sets are compared with the IntCal98 record (Stuiver et al. 1998) and with data sets based on other archives, such as varves of Lake Suigetsu (Kitagawa and van der Plicht 1998, 2000), speleothems from the Bahamas (Beck et al. 2001), and Cariaco sediments (Hughen et al. 2004). Up to 26,000 cal BP, the Iberian Margin data agree within the errors of the other records. By contrast, in the interval between 33,000 and 41,000 cal BP, the Iberian Margin record runs between the Lake Suigetsu and Bahamian speleothem data sets, but it agrees with the few IntCal98 coral data and the Cariaco record.

Twenty-four samples of CO2 from combustion of the NBS oxalic-acid radiocarbon standard, submitted from 13 radiocarbon laboratories, were analyzed for C13 content in this laboratory in order to provide comparative data for normalizing the counting results. The samples were analyzed on Samson, a 60° sector, six-inch radius, McKinney-Nier type mass-spectrometer with magnetic switching between sample and standard gas feed to the instrument.

The main problem with dating pottery by radiocarbon is that many different carbon sources, of different radiocarbon age, may contribute to the potsherd carbon content. Also, the process of firing is liable to destroy information that might help separate possible sources. We describe several pottery dating projects in which we have dated separate fractions (such as humics, lipids and classes of residual carbon). Although in some cases consistency between results is sufficient to accept that this approach can give a credible date, in other cases, no date has been possible, and general conclusions are difficult to make.

During the past year, 1969-1970, both the 2-L (Dyck and Fyles, 1962) and 5-L (Dyck et al., 1965) counters were routinely operated. A 1-L counter was finally constructed with acceptable characteristics (see description below) and was operated in July in place of the 5-L counter. The 2-L counter was operated exclusively at 2 atm. The 5-L counter was operated at 1 atm, except for October and November, 1969, when it was operated at 4 atm. The 1-L counter was operated at 1 atm.

In Quebrada de los Burros in coastal southern Peru (Tacna department), human settlements containing shells and charcoal deposits have been excavated since 1995. The sea surface 14C reservoir ages, estimated by calculating the difference of 14C age between marine shells and terrestrial organic materials, exhibit high values during the lower and middle Holocene and decrease abruptly after 4000 cal BP. The increase of reservoir age at around 7000–8000 cal BP suggests an enhancement of Peruvian coastal upwelling intensity and changes in ocean circulation at intermediate depth.

This article reports the radiocarbon age measurements made at the Lamont Geological Observatory between February 1957 and July 1958. For convenience the sample ages have been classified into the following categories:

1. Table I Geologic Samples—North American glacial geology

2. Table II Geologic Samples—Pluvial lake levels

3. Table III Geologic Samples-Relative sealevel changes

4. Table IV Geologic Samples-Oceanography

5. Table V Geologic Samples-Miscellaneous

6. Table VI Archaeologic Samples

7. Table VII Check Samples

Timber procurement and the use of woodlands are key issues in understanding the open landscapes of the Norse and Medieval periods in the North Atlantic islands. This paper outlines evidence for the timing and mechanisms of woodland use and deforestation in an area of southern Iceland, which is tracked through the mapping and analysis of charcoal production pits. Precise dating of the use of these charcoal production pits within a Bayesian framework is demonstrated through the combination of tephrochronology, sediment accumulation rates, and multiple radiocarbon dates on the archaeological charcoal. Two phases of charcoal production and woodland exploitation have been demonstrated, the first within the first 2 centuries of settlement (cal AD 870–1050) and the second phase over 100 yr later (cal AD 1185–1295). The implications for using charcoal as a medium for 14C dating in Iceland and the wider North Atlantic are then explored. Archaeobotanical analysis of the charcoal sampled from the pits has indicated that birch roundwood was the dominant wood used, that the roundwood was stripped from larger shrubs/trees in late spring/early summer, and that certain sizes and ages of roundwood were harvested. Finally, the timing of the charcoal production is placed into the wider debate on deforestation across Iceland during the Norse and early Medieval periods.

Several new AMS 14C dates on shells from the Fossvogur sea sediments in southern Iceland are reported. Up till now, researchers have assumed that the Fossvogur sediments formed during the last interglacial period (Eem), some 100,000 years ago. However, a recent 14C determination from this location yielded an age of ca 11,000 yr. Because of the importance of these sediments for the Quaternary chronology of Iceland, further sampling for 14C dating was subsequently initiated. The present results on several shell samples collected from the Fossvogur layers strongly indicate that these sediments were formed during the warm Allerød period toward the end of the last glaciation.

Marine radiocarbon bomb-pulse time histories of annually resolved archives from temperate regions have been underexploited. We present here series of Δ14C excess from known-age annual increments of the long-lived bivalve mollusk Arctica islandica from 4 sites across the coastal North Atlantic (German Bight, North Sea; Troms⊘, north Norway; Siglufjordur, north Icelandic shelf; Grimsey, north Icelandic shelf) combined with published series from Georges Bank and Sable Bank (NW Atlantic) and the Oyster Ground (North Sea). The atmospheric bomb pulse is shown to be a step-function whose response in the marine environment is immediate but of smaller amplitude and which has a longer decay time as a result of the much larger marine carbon reservoir. Attenuation is determined by the regional hydrographic setting of the sites, vertical mixing, processes controlling the isotopic exchange of 14C at the air-sea boundary, 14C content of the freshwater flux, primary productivity, and the residence time of organic matter in the sediment mixed layer. The inventories form a sequence from high magnitude-early peak (German Bight) to low magnitude-late peak (Grimsey). All series show a rapid response to the increase in atmospheric Δ14C excess but a slow response to the subsequent decline resulting from the succession of rapid isotopic air-sea exchange followed by the more gradual isotopic equilibration in the mixed layer due to the variable marine carbon reservoir and incorporation of organic carbon from the sediment mixed layer. The data constitute calibration scries for the use of the bomb pulse as a high-resolution dating tool in the marine environment and as a tracer of coastal ocean water masses.

Human history has been marked by major episodes of climate change and human response, sometimes accompanied by independent innovations. In the Bronze Age, the sequencing of causes and reactions is dependent in part on dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating. This paper explores the interaction of a major, prolonged desiccation event between c. 2300 and 2000 BC and human agency including migrations, the displacement of trading networks, warfare, the appearance of weapons made of bronze, and the first appearance of sailing vessels in the Mediterranean.

The Swedish Time Scale (STS) is a ca. 13,300-yr-long varve chronology that has been established for the Swedish east coast from >1000 overlapping clay-varve diagrams. We describe the present state of the STS and illustrate the application of this worldwide unique varve chronology for AMS radiocarbon measurements. The results are compared to other 14C-dated calendar-year chronologies: dendrochronology, laminated lake sediments and U/Th. Our data set agrees with the oldest part of the dendrochronological calibration curve, and with AMS 14C-dated lake lamination data and U/Th on corals down to ca. 12 ka calendar years bp. Further back in time, the AMS-dated part of the STS partly compares well with lake lamination chronologies and shows that the difference between 14C and calendar years decreases rapidly between 12,600 and 12,800 calendar years bp. Such a development seems to contrast with U/Th measurements on corals. We suggest that the cause for the divergence among three supposed calendar-year chronologies lies in the fact that the data points on the marine 14C-U/Th curve are more widely spaced in time than the tightly grouped set of terrestrial AMS 14C dates, and thus are not able to reflect short-term changes in atmospheric 14C. Therefore, we argue that the use of the pre-Holocene part of the calibration program is premature and inadvisable.

This list includes age measurements carried out from January 1972 to December 1973 with previously described CO2-proportional counters (Alessio et al, 1970). All archaeologic and geologic samples but one come from Italian territory.

The 14C content of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in streams, soil water and groundwaters in the Harp Lake catchment in Ontario, Canada, reflect a mixture of DOC sources, including both contemporary plant material and 14C-depleted soil organic matter. The concentration and isotopic content of DOC in streams is highly variable, reflecting the complex flow path of the source water entering the streams. The characteristics of groundwater DOC are set in the soil column, either through DOC production in the deeper soil layers, or through preferential decomposition and/or sorption of 14C-enriched DOC components from percolating waters. We estimate the relative magnitudes of decomposition, transport and sorption as sinks for DOC produced in forested catchment soils.

Detailed stable oxygen isotope analyses coupled with AMS 14C measurements on an eastern Mediterranean sapropel S1 sequence indicate that adverse bottom conditions persisted for ca 8000 years. AMS dates on additional sequences show that complete bottom anoxia lasted for 300-800 years. The S1 event is not synchronous throughout the eastern Mediterranean, but started earlier in the deeper parts of the basin.

Radiocarbon measurements in deep-sea corals from the Little Bahama Bank were used to determine the source of carbon to the skeletal matrices. Specimens of Lophelia, Gerardia, Paragorgia johnsoni and Corallium noibe were sectioned according to visible growth rings and/or stem diameter. We determined that the source of carbon to the corals accreting organic matter was primarily from surface-derived sources. Those corals that accrete a calcerous skeleton were found to obtain their carbon solely from dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in sea water from the depth at which the corals grew. These results, in conjunction with growth-rate studies using short-lived radioisotopes, support the use of deep-sea corals to reconstruct time histories of transient and non-transient tracers at depth in the oceans.

Soil gas samples were obtained from the unsaturated zone at eight sites in the Great Plains. Three of these sites were sampled extensively for gas composition and carbon isotopes. Sampling equipment consisted of a nest of gas probes vertically spaced by roughly 3m at most sites, generally approaching the water table. Water wells, 10cm in diameter, were screened in the topmost layer groundwater. Inverted cattle tanks were used to collect CO2 samples from the soil surface. The major gas components were analyzed with emphasis on CO2, δ 13C, and 14C measurements. The same components were studied in groundwater samples. Higher than atmospheric CO2 concentrations were found in all soil samples. Root respiration and oxidation of organic matter were sources for the additional CO2. When lignite was present in the unsaturated zone, gaseous oxygen reacted almost completely, and CO2 levels rose to 19%. Near the surface, annual cycles in total CO2, δ 13C, and 14C were observed. 14C activities were close to present post-bomb levels at the surface and generally declined with depth. At some sites, oxidation of lignite caused decline of 14C levels to 1 or 2% of their surface value at 8m depth. Without lignite, the 14C activity remained above 50% at all depths. Concentrations of total carbon and its isotopes in ground water remained very stable throughout the study. This implies that geochemical processes in the aquifer vary on time scales longer than the seasonal effects observed in the near-surface unsaturated zone.

The Artemis accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) facility is dedicated to high-precision radiocarbon measurements. It routinely measures over 4500 samples a year for French laboratories. This paper is a status report, showing the measurements of standard, blank, and FIRI intercomparison samples. Since 2008, research and development programs have been established by the Artemis team. During the collaborations with other research laboratories, intercomparisons on archaeological samples were performed and are listed here to show the quality of the Artemis measurements. Three areas of specific research and development are investigated: technical development, beam optic simulations, and specific archaeological studies. The technical developments of the facility are based on the setup of a new bench for water sample preparation and routine microsample preparation and measurement. Beam optic simulations are carried out to control the quality of the measurement related to the tuning of the facility. International collaborations are always in progress. In 2012, the programs include improving the accuracy of reigns for the dynastic Egypt period and the 14C dating of ancient iron.

We discuss the radiocarbon chronology of Late Pleistocene archaeology in the Japanese islands. In sum, 429 samples from more than 100 archaeological sites were compiled and then divided into three periods and four stages. The Early Upper Paleolithic, characterized by Trapezoid industries, lasted during approximately 34-26 ka. The Late Upper Paleolithic period includes both the backed-blade stage and point-tool stage, the latter appearing chronologically later than the former. This stage covers ~25–15 ka. The Final Upper Paleolithic and Incipient Jomon are distinguished by the appearance of microblade industries and the emergence of pottery at the end of this period. This period covers approximately 14-12 ka. The microblade tradition, in the broadest sense, is strongly connected to the background of peopling of the New World. New data on the transitional stage from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic are also discussed in regards to three archaeological sites. Issues on the application of the 14C calibration to the whole Japanese Upper Paleolithic are critically evaluated.

Radiocarbon dating involves a comparison of the count rate of sample carbon with that of modern reference standard material. To calculate a date the ratio Z must be determined where

The curves recommended for calibrating radiocarbon (14C) dates into absolute dates have been updated. For calibrating atmospheric samples from the Northern Hemisphere, the new curve is called IntCal20. This is accompanied by associated curves SHCal20 for the Southern Hemisphere, and Marine20 for marine samples. In this “companion article” we discuss advances and developments that have led to improvements in the updated curves and highlight some issues of relevance for the general readership. In particular the dendrochronological based part of the curve has seen a significant increase in data, with single-year resolution for certain time ranges, extending back to 13,910 calBP. Beyond the tree rings, the new curve is based upon an updated combination of marine corals, speleothems, macrofossils, and varved sediments and now reaches back to 55,000 calBP. Alongside these data advances, we have developed a new, bespoke statistical curve construction methodology to allow better incorporation of the diverse constituent records and produce a more robust curve with uncertainties. Combined, these data and methodological advances offer the potential for significant new insight into our past. We discuss some implications for the user, such as the dating of the Santorini eruption and also some consequences of the new curve for Paleolithic archaeology.